Friday, September 25, 2009

So I was just not that into my show last night, and I'm lazy and don't feel like upping my whole playlist. Instead I'll leave you with an album that you'll probably care more about anyway.

I posted some Margaret Thrasher a little while back, and since then they released an LP (and also broke up). I don't think Moderate Rock grabs me quite as much as the 7"s, but that may be hard to do. They still give you a dose of straight-up hardcore with throaty lady vocals, this time even scratchier I think. Jules gets it going from the very beginning with "fuuuuuck, not again." "Raise the Bar" was one of my favorite longs from the 7"s and is rerecorded here. It's played faster but somehow doesn't have the same bounce to it. Putting this all together, it doesn't sound like I really like this LP that much, but I do. I really do. A lot.

This was released on P-Trash but is already out of print, so try to hunt it down through some other distros.

Supposedly some of the people from this band have something new going on, but I can't remember the name of it. I'll try to remember to ask Foreign Objects tonight (listen to them at 10 on Christa's show!).

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I guess this band's biggest claim to fame is that they're ex-Punkin Pie. I must confess that I've never been super fond of this band. They're super cute, of course, but if I'm gonna go with Plan-It-X-y pop punk, I think I'd choose another.

Fleabag, on the other hand, are beyond awesome. I first heard them on the Best of the Nest 2009 compilation put out by the New York-based feminist zine distro For the Birds (this is an awesome tape/CD by the way, so track it down!). My first time listening through this comp, I loved the Fleabag track the most. On the way down to Best Friends Day, Josh brought their tape along for the drive, and I fell further in love. One thing that I think is really cool is that they put the five songs on both sides of the cassette. They're one of a bunch of awesome pop bands from the Bay Area right now (maybe stretching it on the Bay a bit, but who's excited for the Sourpatch LP?!) They did an East Coast tour this summer, but hit Worcester rather than Boston. Hopefully they'll come back again!

"Curb Appeal" is their track on the Best of the Nest, and I think it remains my favorite on the demo (at least for now since I'm most familiar with it). Like the rest of the tape, it's pretty straight-up pop punk with some '90s indie rock mixed in. I always love songs that reminisce about being a certain age- this really gets me with "we were all 19, you'll forget me by the end of the week." Even just getting a chance to listen to more of the tracks now, they all get a big thumbs up from me. This tape rules- perfect for walking by the river in the sun, or in a few weeks, lamenting the sun that is no longer around.

I thought this flier was cool, and I don't have the tape yet, so I can't scan in that art.

You can't really order this online, but if you get in touch with me I can send you their address and you might be able to grab a copy.

Monday, September 21, 2009

I can't believe it's the end of summer. Like officially now. September 22nd is the fall equinox. I think I went through some intense listening phases this summer. It was primarily Lookout!-Dangerhouse Summer 2K9, but especially at the beginning of the summer it was Slampt-fest. OK not so much Slampt, but a lot of stuff that sounds like it could be on Slampt. Basically just snotty grrrls playing fuzzy pop kinda stuff. Basically when I was ripping a bunch of vinyl there was one awesome bin with things like Bette Davis and the Balconettes and Budget Girls.

Bitch School is a band I don't know too much about, and I can't find any info about them. This self-titled 7" came out in 1999 I believe on Lipstick Records. Straight-up power pop with a bit of fuzz. Crush songs about record shops? The best!

If you know anymore about this band or how I might possibly get a copy of this 7", let me know! (If it wasn't clear from the picture, this copy is from the station.)

Oh yeah and this weekend was awesome! Teenage Cool Kids were beyond fun. It was great to have a dance party with Audrey & Mark & Dan & lots of sweaty strangers I don't know. If you took pictures send me some.

Friday, September 18, 2009

I wish I had recorded this show-- I think it was definitely one of my favorite solo shows I've done in quite a while. Thanks to the guy who called in about United Mutation. Hopefully I'll rip some new stuff to put up soon... got a busy week ahead though.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Here's another remnant from the summer. While I'm excited to get back to my regular show, having guest DJs always mixed things up and introduced me to some new records. When Steve came in to spin some stuff, he brought in Anti Scrunti Faction.

It's not too hard to track down this band since Leslie Mah from Tribe 8 was in it. A.S.F. were total bad ass feminists in their own right though, appearing in cool queer zines like J.D.s and writing songs like "Slave to My Estrogen." Plus they were totally crusty looking kids who wrote songs about what made them angry. Or sometimes depressed or happy. Check out this old MRR profile for some more info along with this Flipside interview. Plus in that Flipside interview Leslie says, "I like colors and being positive." And I think they're way snottier than Tribe 8. Seriously, what's not to love? Their LP, Damsels in Distress, is long out of print, so do yourself a favor and grab it below.

Oh yeah, and speaking of MRR, the queer punk issue is out now so check it out!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Summer is finally coming to a close (today was my first day of classes), so I figure it's time for a bit of reflection on one of my favorite things I picked up this summer.

I was lucky enough to see the Diamond Sea play three dates on their northeast-ish tour. Hopefully if you live above the Mason-Dixon line you got a chance to see them as well. Despite the fact that I saw them three times in four days, each show was awesome. Their tour kick-off was the dyke march benefit show on Friday, June 26 in New York. The Carnal Knowledge reunion was insane. Missed them the next night at Dan's house, but I heard it was fun, and the boys seemed to still be recovering as we drove out to Western Mass the next day. Meghan put together an awesome show. We missed Brain Killer but caught Waste Management, the Diamond Sea, Cult Ritual, Ampere, and Aerosols. The following night just required a short bike ride over to Gay Gardens to see Afflictions, Confines, and then the Diamond Sea and Cult Ritual again. Confines were my favorite of the evening. Their demo is all gone now, but you can (and should) download it here. While you're there, check out the Bloody Gears demo too because it rules.

OK, back to the task at hand. My favorite description of this band is "The Diamond Sea sounds like Sleater-Kinney through a Gang Of Four filter." Aside from the gimicky name drops and what not that make it so great, it's also probably the most accurate one.

This 10" was put out by Yellow Ghost. Tara has also set up a bunch of awesome tours in Australia for bands like Ampere & Daniel Striped Tiger, and Punch will be headed over there soon.

When I first grabbed this record I listened to the A-side over and over. "Heavy Skies" is probably my favorite of the album. While the first half is great, I think my focus on it meant I didn't listen to the B-side enough. "Safe Keeping" is certainly another favorite. Anyway, I'm kind of spent on writing about music for the day and I started this over a month ago, so I don't really remember where I wanted to go with this. I'll just let the Diamond Sea's music speak for itself.